Monday, March 28, 2016

Increase the Reach of Every Blog Post You Write – 15 Things to do Before You Hit Publish

We all want every blog post we publish to be the best it can
be. Beyond that, we want our posts to get found. For that to happen, we have to
increase the reach of every blog post we write.

It's hard to remember all the things that go into an effective post, so I've compiled a checklist for my own blogging and today I'm going to share it with you.

15 Things to Do Before You Hit Publish

1. Determine the main
keyword phrase for your post. Do this by finding the focus of the post and
For this post, the keyword phrase is Increase the Reach of Every Blog Post.

Compose a title that contains this key word phrase.

2. Compose a title for
your blog that contains this keyword phrase. It will help get your blog
found if that title is phrased like something that would be typed into a search
engine.

3. Add labels/tags to
your post. These should always include: keywords, the title of the blog
post, the name of the author (even if you’re the only author who ever writes
for your site), the title of your blog site, if it’s different than your name
(the title of my blog site is The Write Conversation, so that’s one of my labels). Here's a blog post with the specifics of How to Label and Tag Your Blog Post.

4. Make sure there is a
byline at the top of the post. In WordPress, that can be set up to show
automatically. In Blogger, you’ll need to treat that as part of your blog post.
With that byline, include a link to your Twitter account for easy sharing on
social media.

5. Read your post out
loud. This will help catch any typos or awkward sentences you may have
missed before.

Compose an open-ended question of call to action for the
end of your post.

6. Compose an open-ended
question or call to action for the end of your post. This will help engage
your audience. And Don’t forget to come back and answer the comments.

7. Look at word count.
An ideal length for most posts is 700-800 words. There are exceptions and if
your blog is an exception, notice what word-length works best for you.

8. Check for formatting.
Look for clear and concise (and mainly short) sentences. Check to make sure
your paragraphs no longer than 50 words. Search for extra spaces or extra blank
lines. They are more apparent online than in print.

9. If the blog post is
written by a guest, include a bio and headshot. This bio should include
social media links—so readers can connect—as well as an book links.

Verify all hyperlinks are working.

10. Verify all hyperlinks
are working. There is nothing more frustrating than to click on a dead
link. Google actually penalizes sites by reduced SEO if they have dead links.
So take time to double-check.

11. Make sure your images
are captioned. Images aren’t easily searchable online, but images that are
captioned are. This adds extra power to the SEO of your blog post.

12. Check the position of
your images. Pictures and graphics should illustrate your post, not
interrupt the flow of the text. Think of it like a magazine layout.

13. Add a Click to Tweet
or Tweetdis for easy sharing. Tweetdis is a paid plugin for Wordpress and won’t
work on Blogger, but it’s becoming my new favorite for my WordPress sites. Click to Tweet is free and here's the link to a screencast on How to Install Click to Tweet.

14. Preview your post. Take an extra minute and preview your post one last time. Especially if you've made changes, this help ensure they haven't caused other issues.

15. Schedule your post.
I know this sounds like a no-brainer, but occasionally I forget to hit schedule
and the post ends up as a draft and is late when I discover my mistake.

By consistently checking for each of the 15 things listed
above, you’ll increase the reach of your individual posts and the overall reach
of your blog. I’d love to know what you’d add to the list. Be sure to leave
your suggestions in the comments section below.

(NOTE: if you want to print this list, there's a link at the end to allow that)

Thanks for another great post, Edie! This is a very helpful checklist.

How can I set up my blog post so that readers can print it out? For example, I would love to print out this post to have it next to me as I create my own blog post. How would I insert a PRINT button so that it prints only the post and not the sidebar of my blog?

MaryAnn, I really don't know the answer, but I'll do some research. What platform do you use for blogging? For this post, I've added a link to Google Drive that will allow you to download and print just the post. I hope that helps, Blessings, E

Andy Lee, I uploaded the word doc into Google Drive, then I clicked on SHARE, then on GET THE SHAREABLE LINK. This gives you the exact link. The auto settings for this are:1. It's only available to those with the link.2. No one but you can edit it in Google Drive (this doesn't lock the document after it's taken out of Google).

Pat, great question. No, you can't, not in Click to Tweet (they're supposed to be working on adding that option. BUT you can if you use TweetDis. TweetDis is a paid service and only works with WordPress, but the more I play around with it, the better I like it!

Edie, your posts are always so helpful! Thank you for taking the time to help us all. You are my go-to for the blog nitty-gritty. I'm on Blogger and don't think the labels are the same as tags in Wordpress, but I follow your advice for tagging. I haven't explored SEO too much yet.

Great post. I learned about half of these from experience, and from reading other successful blogs. I definitely recommend reading other blogs regularly to keep up on what's working well and what isn't :)

WOW! This technologically challenged person actually downloaded and printed this article all by herself. I think I am finally growing up. Thank you so very much for your willingness to share this valuable information with us. I took notes all the way through then I read that it was printable. I was skeptical but figured it out. Now I have this reference sheet to guide me as I blog. What a blessing. Thank you.